[Online Features] If there's one area that Sony has been consistently working to improve, it's what you get with that free online service. Better still, Sony seems to be keen to listen to what the consumers are demanding most -- often on the official blog's comments section. Upscaling of games and movies? Added after some moaning. Custom themes and wallpapers? Custom soundtracks? Yep, added. And who could possibly forget the two biggest improvements to the system: Trophies and in-game XMB, both of which were openly begged for pretty much since launch.

This willingness to not only listen, but act has been one of the best parts of being a PS3 owner. If something's not working right or needs to be added to bring the system to parity with the competition, Sony tends to get working on things. Many will argue that these things should have been implemented from the start, but the fact that it's all been added for free and in a (relatively) timely manner shouldn't be discounted.

That said, the PS3 is still a long way from being the online equal of the Xbox 360, and much of that comes down to Microsoft simply having a better way of conceiving and implementing its ideas -- to say nothing of the fact that it had years to perfect the Live service with the original Xbox. On the 360, updates are insanely quick to download and install, thanks to the fact that the system can do both simultaneously. On the PS3, if you download something in the background from the Store, you still have to manually install it in most cases.

And then there's the fact that every feature on the 360 is included in every game. The piecemeal system of giving developers individual components that they can choose to update (sacrificing memory for custom soundtracks, for example) and the gradual decrease of those components' memory footprint means that games are woefully inconsistent in what they offer. If we want to chat with a friend on the 360 while playing games with them, we can. In every game, from launch up until now. If we want to play a different game -- say a launch title while a friend is playing Gears 2 -- that's also possible. There are still online games that Sony itself makes that don't have voice chat.

Have things gotten better? Certainly; Trophies have been an unmitigated success and while similar to Achievements, offer something slightly different and -- some would say -- more compelling than their 360 analog. Until every feature is supported in every game and every mode (that includes stuff like being able to pull up in-game XMB while watching DVDs/Blu-rays or playing PS one/PS2 games, whole sections of the PS3 experience feel like they're lagging behind the other parts.

Grade: B- Notes: While progress is being made, the PlayStation 3 seems to have issues with consistency. It's as if it can't seem to do the same basic tasks while performing more advanced ones. Fellow classmate the 360 may not be able to do everything the PS3 can, but it can handle all duties equally no matter what it's doing. Improvements are certainly happening -- often swiftly -- but it almost feels like the young PS3 is just trying to copy its classmate's actions rather than fully understanding the advantages of being able to do everything while doing those new actions.